by Ted Loder “Lord of such amazing surprises as put a catch in my breath and wings on my heart, I praise you for this joy, too great for words, but not for tears and songs and sharing; for this mercy that blots out my betrayals and bids me begin again to limp on, to hop-skip-and-jump on, to mend what is broken in and around me, and to forgive the breakers; for this YES to life and laughter, to love [...]
We follow someone who’s grave is empty! HE IS RISEN!! Easter Day means new life, mourning gives way to joy, despair gives way to Jesus! HE IS RISEN!
Easter is (often) so bright and upbeat. Nobody would argue Easter Sunday is a day of celebration. We celebrate that Jesus conquered death so we can have life. It doesn’t get any better than Easter Sunday. Day three. But we don’t hear a lot about day one and two? After the crucifixion on day one and leading into day two it almost seems as if nothing is happening. It’s a period of questioning, doubting, wondering, and definitely waiting. It’s a [...]
Pelikan said, “If Jesus rose from the dead, nothing else matters; and if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, nothing else matters.”
your Easter truth,…? your renewed orientation? your best confidence….?! “Repentance spends less time looking at the past and saying “I’m sorry,” than to the future and saying, “Wow!” Frederich Buechner I think so,…… God says so!
We can so downplay certain days in the calender….. we pass them by, we believe that we’re too liberated to be bound or connected and yet in them is meaning, richness and purpose…. One of things I love about NOT giving up things this Lent is using the forty-ish days till Easter as a journey. A time of increased personal examination. During this Lenten Season, I’m asking myself…… 1. Where is there forgiveness and grace needed? (like extra dollups!!) 2. [...]
Easter was the pilot project. What God did for Jesus that explosive morning is what He intends to do for the whole creation. We who live in the interval between Jesus’s Resurrection and the final rescue and transformation of the whole world are called to be new-creation people here and now. That is the hidden meaning of the greatest festival Christians have. Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham : The Times 11.iv.2009
I Praise You for this Resurrection Madness by Ted Loder: Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle. Lord of such amazing surprises as put a catch in my breath and wings on my heart, I praise you for this joy, too great for words, but not for tears and songs and sharing; for this mercy that blots out my betrayals and bids me begin again, to limp on, to hop-skip-and-jump on, to mend what is broken in and around me, [...]
My prayer is that you know the resurrection power and Holy Spirit joy of this day…… Colossians 3:1-2 ‘So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it!! Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Jesus Christ: For that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.’ [...]